Despite entering the tournament at #4 in the world, Holland exits the tournament without a win or a single point. Given that Holland was the runner-up in the 2010 World Cup, could this be a phenomenon akin to the 'Super Bowl Loser's Curse' (in which the loser of the Super Bowl seems to underperform in the next season) ?
Denmark gets the 'good try' award - they likely would have advanced if not for the difficulty of this group.
Portugal finally got some production from their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo (who scored both of their goals against Holland), and not-coincidentally secured their place in the quarterfinals at the same time. As the Group B runner-up, Portugal will play the Czech Republic, the Group A winners, in the quarterfinals.
Germany is the only team in the tournament to sweep the Group Stage, going 3-0. This sets them up to play Greece in the quarterfinals, a match-up I find hilarious for sport and political reasons.
Today we have the last games in Group C. The standings in that group so far:
Already-eliminated Ireland is likely the worst team in the tournament. This is good for Italy, who in order to advance need to beat Ireland and hope the Spain-Croatia game does not end in a draw (which would advance both of those teams at Italy's expense).
Spain v. Croatia and Italy v. Ireland kick off at 2:45pm EST.
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